``At last we have property we can call our own,'' Sturges said. ``Our own reservation.''

On the other side of the officials sat Sol Kerzner, chairman and chief executive officer of Sun International, developer of resorts and casinos around the world. Next to him sat his son, Butch.

Soon, they said, the reservation would house the Mohegan Resort & Casino, complete with 3,000 slot machines, 180 gaming tables, seven restaurants and an entertainment complex.

Friday was clearly a day when the Indian past met the Indian future.

Wall Street bond experts sat alongside tribe members. Bureau of Indian Affairs officials spoke about unique financing arrangements. A New York public relations firm handed out one press release with a Montville dateline and another with a ``Paradise Island, The Bahamas'' dateline.

They all gathered to watch officials from the National Indian Gaming Commission and the bureau, despite reservations from the Environmental Protection Agency and others, give the consent necessary to proceed with the resort.

Construction on the complex, which will be managed and operated by Trading Cove Associates, should begin next month, with the opening a year later. The project is expected to create about 8,000 jobs.

The tribe had sought formal federal recognition since 1978, long before Indian casinos became popular. It got that recognition last year, and quickly began planning the resort.

Sturges, a marble sculptor and former intelligence officer and Salvation Army public relations official, Friday explained why his tribe chose to go the casino route to enhance its economic development. ``This is the only way you can raise money without investment,'' he said. ``The tribe has not invested anything.''

Trading Cove has two managing partners -- one a subsidiary of Sun International Hotels Limited and the other LMW Investments, Inc. LMW is controlled by Len Wolman, president and chief executive officer of Waterford Hotel Group, which manages properties in several states.

Trading Cove will be entitled to a management fee of 30 percent to 40 percent of the resort's net income, a standard fee in such agreements. Kerzner would not say how much income he expected.

The project will cost $250 million, with most of it financed through the unusual Wall Street financing arrangement that was lauded by bureau officials.

Two investment firms, Bear, Stearns & Co. and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., have placed $175 million in bonds. The bonds will pay 13 1/2 percent interest and mature in seven years.

It is believed to be the first time an Indian organization, governed as a sovereign nation, has had a bond in institutional capital markets. United States investors will be largely subject to the same protections as they would be with any other bond.

There is one difference, however. If a U.S. corporation does not pay interest on a bond, a consumer can seek recourse in a state court. If a tribe does not pay interest, the law is murkier, though it is believed consumers would have recourse.

Kerzner and federal and tribal officials were convinced Friday there was little reason to worry.

Though the Montville casino will compete with the Mashantucket Pequots' Foxwoods Resort Casino 10 miles away, and possibly with a non- Indian casino in Bridgeport and others around the region, Kerzner was optimistic.

``This is a deep, deep market,'' said the man who recently developed the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas, a project that includes a 1,147- room hotel, a casino and a 14-acre saltwater marine life habitat featuring more than 100 species of fish.

The information about plans for the casino was released at a ceremony with constant reminders of old and new. The site of the signing was a Metro Center Marriott Hotel conference room, a room with little apparent connection to tribal lore.

``This is a magical day,'' said Connecticut lawyer Lewis B. Rome, the master of ceremonies, ``an opportunity to allow the tribe to grow and prosper in their native environment.''

Tribe members presented arrowheads from the trust land to Rome, Kerzner and Assistant Interior Secretary Ada Deer. Documents were signed, and Rome said, ``This is not about gaming. This is about enjoying the fruits of their labor and their opportunity.''

It was also about enjoying the end to the long federal review process. The Indian bureau has been deliberating for months over whether to seek a more detailed environmental assessment of the project, finally deciding not to.

The EPA and others had raised serious concerns about increased levels of air pollution as a result of heavier traffic.

Thursday, James Harriman, the bureau's regional environmental coordinator, said the tribe agreed to change some traffic patterns and take other steps to improve air quality estimates.

``What we've got now is good enough,'' he said. But Mindy Lubber, EPA senior policy adviser in Boston, said, ``We have not yet seen an analysis that explains how they'll deal with the ozone issue. We still have some concerns.''

There had also been political concern about the casino, though much of that seemed muted Friday. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had written Interior Secretary Bruce A. Babbitt a letter in February seeking a more detailed environmental study.

Friday, Blumenthal said that while he still has concerns, ``I`m satisfied by my contacts thus far with the tribe that it will be a good neighbor economically as well as environmentally.''

Sturges insisted the worry about the environment had been overblown. ``One thing Indian tribes do not want to do is cause more pollution,'' he said.